News Headlines Mar. 4, 2013

• EGYPT BURNING: 5 killed, over 600 injured in Port Said clashes  At least five people have been killed in clashes in Port Said. Egypt’s army reportedly moved in to stop clashes between protesters and police, sparked by the transfer of prisoners accused of last year’s stadium massacre.

• 'Privilege, not a right': UK on secret passport-revoking crusade As the number of those stripped of British citizenship on national security grounds grows, Chris Woods from the Bureau of Investigative Journalism has told RT that the whole process is highly secretive, and unaccountable to the rule of law. 

• UK among worst for wage drops across EU Britain has suffered one of its the biggest drops in median pay over the last two years, recent figures have revealed. Out of the EU's 27 member-states, only the Netherlands, Cyprus and Greece performed worse than the UK..

• At least 45 killed, about 150 injured in twin blasts in Pakistan Twin explosions killed at least 45 people and wounded more than 150 in a Shiite Muslim area of Karachi in southern Pakistan, officials said. Nearby apartment buildings caught fire in the bombing.

•  Chinese village on lockdown following clashes, reform demands (PHOTOS)  Residents in southern China are locked in a standoff with authorities following violent clashes with unidentified attackers allegedly hired by corrupt officials to enforce a questionable land deal.Police have blockaded the settlement of Shangpu in Guangdong province following the unrest, which was started just over a week ago, the South China Morning Post reported. Residents of the village refused to allow officials in, just days before the annual meeting of the Chinese legislature, the National People’s Congress (NPC). Around 30 battered cars, many of them overturned, littered the main streets of the village. Close to the entrance of the settlement, where around 40 police and officials stood watch, a cloth banner read: “Strongly request legal, democratic elections.” Residents have claimed that the clashes were sparked when assailants, many reportedly wearing orange hard hats and red armbands, drove into the village the previous Friday and assaulted the residents with shovels and other weapons.

In this photo taken on March 2, 2013 residents stand next to smashed and overturned cars after civil unrest in the village of Shangpu in China's southern Guangdong province. (AFP Photo/Peter Parks)

• 5.5 quake in southwest China injures 30, destroys hundreds of buildings  At least 30 people were injured when a magnitude-5.5.earthquake hit southwest China's Yunnan province, destroying more than 1,400 buildings and damaging over 6,000 homes, China Central Television said..

• Tens of thousands protest in Bulgaria amid political uncertainty (PHOTOS)  Waves of protests swept Bulgarian cities again on Sunday, as tens of thousands took to the streets despite the government’s resignation. Bulgarians demanded the ‘mafia’ to leave, but it wasn’t clear who could unite them as the country’s new leader.